Living In Stark Tower
by TinyTubaPlayer22
Summary: Ryan Tillman is your average engineering student in New York with an unpleasant past. That is, until she gets a project that includes working with Tony Stark and they build her a metal suit. Ryan fights against Loki alongside the Avengers as the Iron Maiden, but when she reveals herself, albeit reluctantly, she gets threatened and her past comes out. *FULL SUMMARY INSIDE*
1. Prologue

Full Summary:

Ryan Tillman is your average engineering student in New York with an unpleasant past. That is, until she gets a project that includes working with Tony Stark and they build her a metal suit. Ryan fights against Loki alongside the Avengers as the Iron Maiden, but when she reveals herself, albeit reluctantly, she gets threatened and her past comes out. Two days after the battle, her ex-best-friend shows up ready to kill. To complicate things further, Loki is sent back down for Earthly justice and starts falling for Ryan, who by then is getting pretty sick of psychotic attentions fixing themselves on her, and just wants to get Steve to notice her as something other than a teammate... Ah, the life of a reluctant superhero.

****Edit 5/24: I changed some details of the story, so I would advise any old readers to read all the way through to get a fresh grip on the story.****

* * *

"Shut up, phone!" I snapped at my phone without even missing a beat. I logged on to my email, something I hadn't done in a week, and found my inbox flooding with emails, mainly Facebook messages.

After about five minutes of sifting through and deleting emails, I found what I was looking for. The year project info for my engineering class.

* * *

_Miss Tillman,_

_This year's engineering project is as follows:_

_Students are to interview an assigned prominent engineer and present a report on the person's work. The report must be twenty pages long. This project is worth ten thousand points._

_There is also a bonus opportunity, which is as follows:_

_The student may, for up to five thousand bonus points, create something under the instruction or with the assistance of their assigned engineer._

_The engineer you have been assigned is Tony Stark._

_Good Luck,_

_Professor Jackson_

* * *

Once I finished reading the email, I fired up Google and typed in "Stark Tower address New York City", and what I found surprised me. It turned out that Stark Tower was just next door to my apartment building, and I had plenty of time to get dressed and walk over to set up an interview.

I arrived at the Tower twenty minutes later, finding someone standing at the door already, almost as if waiting for me to show up. They opened the door, letting me inside just as it started to rain.

"Thank you. I'm looking for Mr. Stark..." I said, and the woman who had let me in gave me a suspicious look.

"Why might that be?" she asked, still looking suspicious.

"I'm an engineering student at NYU, and my big project for the year requires me to interview an assigned engineer about their work, and I was assigned Tony Stark." I explained, and the woman looked down at a tablet computer she held, scrolling down the page and nodding.

"Are you busy later today?" she asked, pulling out an iPhone, the model of which I couldn't identify, and looking at something on it.

"No, I'm completely free. I'm taking a more independent-study type of course, since I took most of the engineering courses, and quite a few others, out of boredom over the past few summers, but I never got the chance to do the hands-on bits. So I'm actually free pretty much all the time!" I replied, and she smiled, leading me over to one of the many elevators in the lobby-type room.

"Well, how far away do you live, Miss Tillman?" she asked, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion, before realizing that the security around the Tower was extremely tight, so they probably got a background check on me the moment I moved in to the building next door. I shrugged it off, before noticing the woman's look of confusion.

"I live in the apartment building next door." I answered, and she smiled again. The elevator arrived then, and we stepped in.

"By the way, I'm Virginia Potts, Mr. Stark's personal assistant. Everyone calls me Pepper, though." Pepper introduced herself, pressing the button for the basement.

The ride to the basement was silent, and fast, and when the elevator doors opened, we were greeted by a rather amusing scene. Stark was sleeping, head on his arms on a table, beside a half-finished robot, while another robot moved around by his feet cleaning up spilled coffee.

"He's had a long night. How about we leave him here to sleep and go get something to eat upstairs?" Pepper suggested, and I turned to her, smiling widely.

"That sounds great, I didn't eat breakfast this morning and I'm actually really hungry. But then again, I almost never eat breakfast and it's past ten, which is when I usually start feeling the consequences." I replied, and Pepper laughed as we stepped back into the elevator.


	2. A Chat and a Plan

**A Chat and a Plan**

********Edit 5/24: I changed some details of the story, so I would advise any old readers to read all the way through from the beginning to get a fresh grip on the story.****

* * *

After we finished breakfast, Pepper and I started talking, mainly about me.

"So, where are you from?" she asked, and I smiled wistfully, thinking about my younger years.

"A small town in northwest Illinois, fifteen or twenty minutes from Clinton, Iowa, and an hour and a half from Chicago, if the traffic's good." I replied rather vaguely.

"Aren't they thinking about putting up a federal prison around there?" Pepper asked.

"They've been discussing it for a while, but I don't think it'll happen for a few years." I laughed.

"So, do your friends know you're all the way out here?" she asked, and I scoffed.

"Friends? My only real friend lives in Louisiana _again_, so I don't think she'd really mind. But I did tell her I was going to college here, so yeah, she knows." I answered, earning myself a pitying look from Pepper. "But I preferred having only one friend, really! I was close to her, and I still interacted with other people, I just didn't consider them friends, because... I'd rather not talk about it." I stopped myself from going into detail, since I hadn't even known Pepper for an hour and thus didn't know if I could trust her or not.

"That's okay. What do you think of the big city?" she questioned, and I rolled my eyes mentally. So many _questions!_

"I like it. I've been to Chicago multiple times, and it was always an adventure. In my opinion, New York is the same, just bigger!" I replied, smiling again.

"Pepper, who's the kid?" asked a voice from behind me. I turned around and saw Stark walking toward us, holding a coffee mug.

* * *

"So, what do you want to start with?" Stark asked once we'd been introduced properly.

"I was thinking we could do a few interview sessions, then I would take a week or two to type up the first draft of the report for you to look over and give suggestions on. Then, I'd use your suggestions to type the final draft, keeping the important stuff from the first draft." I answered, going into my more emotionally-distant, businesslike mindset that I used when I was nervous.

"How would you remember what I said to type the report?" he asked, and I smiled, taking out my iPhone 4 and pulling up the speech-to-text app I had purchased to help in writing stories for Creative Writing class, and essays for Spanish.

"I will use this to record what is said." I replied, and he smirked.

"Is there anything else you require of me? After all, from what you said, this is a very important project, one that you can only get your degree if you get a good grade on." Stark pressed, and I gave a smirk of my own.

"There is, in fact, something else I would like you to do for me. But it's purely a request, you can refuse and I won't be upset."

"So, what is this request?"

"There's a bonus opportunity for the project that requires me to create something under your instruction or with your assistance. But if it's too much trouble, I-" I started.

"Once you're done with the report, _to my satisfaction_, we can make something. I'll have a list of projects ready next week. When do you want to start the interviews?" he replied, turning a question back on me.

"Tomorrow, if you're not too busy."


	3. Approval and an Offer

**Approval and an Offer**

(I'm skipping over the interviews and the writing/first review of the report, since that's not what my inspiration's giving me now.)

****Edit 5/24: I changed some details of the story, so I would advise any old readers to read all the way through from the beginning to get a fresh grip on the story.****

* * *

"Ah, Ryan, it's good to see you! I'm guessing you're here to show Tony the final draft of that report?" Pepper greeted me as I stepped off the elevator on the lounge floor.

"Good to see you too. And yeah, I am. Isn't he always up here around now?" I answered, checking the time on my phone.

"Usually, yes, but he's in the lab now. He came up early today for some reason," she replied, looking back down at her papers.

"I'll head down there. Have fun with the paperwork!" I said, calling the last part over my shoulder as I pressed the elevator button and stepped inside.

* * *

"So, here's the final draft." I said, pulling up the report on the computer for Stark to read while I glanced around the lab. I saw an Iron Man helmet sitting on one of the work tables with a welding gun and other tools lying around it.

I sat on a nearby stool to wait, taking out my phone and playing Solitaire.

* * *

"Ryan!" Stark snapped, and I looked up from my game, clicking off the screen and snapping my phone back into the belt clip.

"Yeah?" I asked, slightly worried at how harshly he had said my name.

"Good report. I approve," he said, handing me my jump drive and grabbing a few papers. "Here are the designs for the projects we can do."

I looked through the papers, finding mostly lasers and other weapons, with a couple robots mixed in. One project in particular stood out to me, however, and I separated it from the rest, showing it to Stark.

"This looks fucking _awesome_, and I _so_ want to make it!" I said, and he smirked at me.

"I thought you'd choose this one, considering how fascinated you've been with my suits. Now, I'll need to get a few more materials for it," he started, pausing and taking a deep breath before continuing, "and it'll take a while to make, with quite a few sleepless nights along the way, so... How would you like to move in to the Tower?"

I froze upon hearing his offer, shocked.

"Pepper's actually the one who suggested it, apparently she thinks there aren't enough women around here, but I wouldn't mind having you around all the time." Stark explained, and I started to unfreeze, smiling widely.

"I'd love to move in to the Tower!" I said, and Stark immediately turned and walked over to a door that clearly stated "DANGER: DO NOT ENTER" and opened it, gesturing me over.

"This door leads into the basement of your apartment building. The sign is to keep me from thinking it's a storage closet, and there's an identical sign on the other side for similar reasons. I have no idea why the basements are connected, but it's convenient now. Just bring your things down to this door and I'll bring them through," he explained, pushing me through the door.

* * *

Two hours later, I was helping Stark carry my boxes up to my new room in the Tower. There were only five boxes, but a few of them were pretty heavy.

"So, you can decorate however you want, just tell Jarvis what color paint you want and Dummy will bring it up. Please don't try to change the carpet though. Rearrange however you want." Stark said, setting down the last box.

"Do you have any extra metal I could build with?" I asked, looking at the bed thoughtfully.

"I have some pipes left over from building the Tower," he replied, and I smiled.

"Perfect."

* * *

"Jarvis, how high is the ceiling in my room?" I asked, browsing the leftover pipes.

"Eleven feet. I would advise that the height of your bed not exceed-" Jarvis started.

"Seven feet, then," I said to myself, grabbing five seven-foot long pipes and taking them over to where I was working.

Flipping down the visor of my welding helmet, I grabbed the welding gun and welded metal discs to the bottoms of the pipes and stood them on the ground. I arranged the six pipes in a rectangle. There were three pipes along what was to be the foot of the bed, two of them only a foot apart to form the sides of the ladder that I would use to get up to the mattress. The bed was big enough for a double bed mattress, since the bed that was already in my room was a double bed and I planned to use that mattress.

I then set to making the frame, putting pipes along the tops of the supporting pipes to connect them in a rectangle and welding them together. After that I started welding pipes across the width of the rectangle to support the mattress.

Once the pipes were cool enough to touch, I lifted the mattress onto the bed-frame, silently thanking Stark for letting me build my new bed in my room instead of in the lab.


	4. SHIELD

**S.H.I.E.L.D.**

********Edit 5/24: I changed some details of the story, so I would advise any old readers to read all the way through from the beginning to get a fresh grip on the story.****

(Sorry for leaving the exact same note on each chapter, but I don't know how far into the story all my readers are, so it's better to say it everywhere so everyone sees it than just one place where only a few people will see it.)

* * *

"That phone of yours really needs to shut up." Stark commented as we worked on the suit. It was mostly finished, but he still needed to program Jarvis into the in-suit computer and I still needed to be measured for the helmet.

"I know. My phone has a love-hate relationship with my laptop. Currently, they seem to be arguing. They do that a lot," I explained, turning my speak to my technology. "Delly, Jobs, stop arguing! Jobs, I know Delly's not an Apple product, but I didn't have the money for Apple when I got her! Delly, I know Jobs is an Apple product, but iPhones are cool and I got him free with my contract!"

"You name your electronics?" Stark asked, sounding less "you're crazier than I thought" and more "I'm not alone!".

"Not just my electronics. My mini-fridge is Roger and my stomach is Stephen!" I replied, and Stark laughed, continuing to program Jarvis into the suit. While he did that, I sat in a strange machine that was measuring my head and would cut the helmet pieces to size.

* * *

Five hours later, we trudged out of the elevator and into the dining room for dinner. We had just finished assembling the helmet, and Jarvis was uploading himself into the suit.

"How's the project coming?" Pepper asked as we sat down to eat. Stark gave a grunt and started eating, leaving me to speak.

"The helmet is assembled, and Jarvis is uploading himself to the suit. So, we're nearly finished." I answered, checking the calendar on the wall opposite me. It was May 4th, and my year project was due in a week and a half.

"It should take less than a week to teach you to operate the suit, so you should be good when it comes time to turn in your whole project." Stark said, not even looking up from his plate.

"Good." I said, starting to eat.

* * *

A week and a half later, I walked back into Stark Tower, carrying what looked like an instrument case but really held the suit. I had just turned in my report and presented the suit to Professor Jackson, the engineering professor. He had handed me my engineering degree on the spot, saying that if I was capable of building an Iron Man suit fitted to my exact measurements, even with help, I could certainly handle an engineering degree.

"So, how did it go?" Pepper asked me as I stepped out of the elevator onto the lounge floor.

"Great! The professor gave me my degree on the spot, saying something about how 'if you can build _that_ in three months, you can certainly handle this degree!'. I really wasn't expecting that!" I answered, allowing Pepper to come over and give me a congratulatory hug.

"Where's Stark? I-" I started just as the elevator opened, letting Stark and a tall, intimidating black man with an eye patch out. "Oh, there he is."

"You! Girl with the suit!" the man snapped, and I gave him a questioning, albeit frightened, look.

"That would be me, yeah." I said nervously, gripping the handle of the suit-case tighter.

"I am Nick Fury of SHIELD, and Stark here claims that you two built an iron suit for you," he pointed at me there for effect, "and, as you are in possession of said suit, you need to know about SHIELD."

* * *

Over the next three hours, I was briefed on SHIELD and what it did for the world, as well as Loki, the latest threat to the world.

"So you think I'm fit to be in your 'Avengers Initiative'?" I asked, and Fury nodded, sliding a file across the table to me.

"If you accept, you will need to start ASAP, as the world is currently under threat by Loki. You will also need a code name." Fury elaborated, and I rolled my eyes.

"Can't I just be 'some college kid from rural Illinois in a metal suit helping to save the world'?" I asked, and Fury glared at me. "Okay, how about, um, Iron Maiden? Since I'm not a girl, but not quite a woman, and 'Iron Young Woman' just sounds _stupid_, as well as the fast that I'm _definitely_ not a man!"

"That sounds fine. Iron Maiden it is." Fury said, standing and leaving with a swish of his trench coat.

"You're really fucking scary, you know that right?" I called after him, and he merely laughed.

"I get that a lot, kid."


	5. The Avengers

**The Avengers**

* * *

"Suit up, kid, we're going to Germany. They found Loki." Stark said, going to put on his own suit. I went over to the case, opening it and stepping into the foot-holes, allowing the suit to assemble itself around me.

"Lead the way, Rocket Man!" I said once I was fully cloaked in metal. Stark chuckled, taking off. I followed, and we flew east over the Atlantic, arriving in Germany just in time. We quickly captured Loki, bringing him on the SHIELD jet to go back to New York.

"So, Stark, who's the kid?" someone asked from my left. I flipped up the face-plate of my suit to get a better look, putting it back down when the man speaking to Stark looked me in the eye.

"Captain America," I muttered to myself. Luckily, Jarvis decided to prevent that from being put through the speakers. "He's _much_ better looking than in the pictures in the file..."

"That's Ryan..." Stark said, and I ignored him as he explained how I got my suit.

* * *

The next day, all the Avengers stood in the lab, arguing. Well, I was staying out of the argument, but I was dragged in unwillingly by the captain.

"Big man and a little girl in suits of armor. Take them away and what are you?" he remarked cuttingly, and I dug through my brain, trying to find a good comeback but coming up with nothing. I didn't work well under pressure...

"A genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist." Stark replied coolly, and the captain turned to me.

"I think you're attractive!" I blurted out, then realized what I said. I slapped a hand over my mouth, turned tail, and ran from the lab.

Right when I stopped to catch my breath, an explosion rocked the Helicarrier, throwing me back to the lab to land next to the captain.

"Fuck this shit, I'm out!" I said, standing back up and fleeing again, that time going to put on my suit and go hide from the captain by flying around outside.

* * *

Three hours later, a battle was in full swing in New York City. A battle between the Avengers and a bunch of alien robots, to be exact.

_Ba~dump!_

"Shut up, phone!" I muttered, glaring toward my midsection, where my phone sat, charging from the suit. I had added a couple USB ports into my suit for convenience reasons, mainly so I could charge my phone on the go. (In case it wasn't obvious earlier, I'm rather obsessed with my phone.) One of the ports held a jump drive that contained Jarvis, so I could put him on my laptop.

"Miss Tillman, it appears that you have received a textual message from your mother. Would you like me to read it for you?" Jarvis informed me, and I rolled my eyes. The little shit had wormed his way into my phone through the USB the first time I had plugged it in to charge, and he'd refused to leave even when I tried to hack him out.

"Sure, what does it say?" I asked, deciding to humor him. I continued to fight, though, and killed three alien robots before Jarvis even started reading the message to me.

"She says, 'Ryan, did you see the news? There's a huge battle going on over there, and it seems to be centered around the building right next to where you live!'. Did you not inform your mother that you are living with Mr. Stark?" Jarvis read, turning a question on me.

"No, I didn't tell her that I'm living with Stark. Don't tell her that I'm fighting, just tell her that I know about the battle and that I'm safe." I replied, not wanting Mom to get worried.

"Does 'I'm watching the news right now, Mom, and I'm safe.' sound alright?" Jarvis suggested, and I smiled.

"Perfect. Now, leave me alone please, I have to kick some ass."

* * *

"Are there any cameras around?" I asked Jarvis, looking around nervously. We, the Avengers that is, had all gone out for 'shawarma' after the battle, and I didn't want to take off my helmet with cameras around, since whatever they captured went straight to national news, and Mom was watching.

"There are cameras everywhere, Miss Tillman, but I would advise you to eat. You haven't eaten at all today." Jarvis replied, and I sighed in defeat, taking off my helmet.

Instantly, every camera in the area turned to me, and I sat down with my back to the majority of them, sitting next to the captain.

"Your mother has sent you a textual message. Would you like me to read it?" Jarvis asked from my phone, and Stark cracked up, nearly choking on his shawarma.

"No, I'll read it myself," I replied, grabbing my phone and reading the message.

_Ryan James Tillman! You were FIGHTING IN THE BATTLE?! Why didn't you tell me that you had an Iron Man suit? One with weapons capabilities! I thought something was weird when I saw a purple and gold suit flying around, since purple's your favorite color, but I never actually thought it was YOU up there in that thing!_

I sighed as I read the message. Obviously she recognized me, even from behind! Why would I ever doubt that for a moment?

"Your Facebook is exploding with messages. Would you like me to read some of them?" Jarvis requested, and I could hear a slight note of pleading to his tone.

"Maybe later, when there aren't _cameras_ around," I answered, glaring over my shoulder at the cameras.

* * *

"So, Jarv, the Facebook messages?" I asked, using my nickname for the AI.

"The first one, from Ashley, reads, 'So you think you can just up and become a superhero? _I_ could do better than that!'"

"Reply, 'I don't just think I can, I _know_ I can. And you're just a spoiled fucking rich-kid brat who thinks she's important enough that the world should just wait for her so she can be late _everywhere!_'. Next?"

"One from Tyler reads, 'Tillman, you've really outdone yourself this time. Good job with those aliens! You kicked ass out there!'"

"Reply with something generic yet nice. Now, are the majority of the messages insulting or complimentary?"

"There is only one complimentary message here, and I just read it to you. There is one other non-insulting message, though, from Brianna, who claims to be flying up to New York City to see you."

Of course everyone would start to hate me in my absence. I didn't expect any better from them.

"Ashley replied to your reply. It reads, 'You know when Rachel and I were "joking" about killing you in Chicago? Well, we weren't joking, we're gonna come up there with the others and-' I don't think the rest of this message should be read. I will send a copy of it to Mr. Stark, so he can arrange for you to be protected." Jarvis said, and I rolled my eyes. I had a feeling that the two girls hated me, even when Ashley was my "best friend", they just didn't show it.

"Jarvis says you're getting death threats, Ryan. We need to talk."


	6. All My Secrets Away

**All My Secrets Away**

* * *

"We need to talk." Stark, or at least I thought it was Stark, said from the elevator. Upon looking over my shoulder, I found that the speaker was actually Pepper, flanked by the Avengers. They all walked over to the sitting area, settling down for a nice, long chat.

* * *

"I clearly remember you telling me that 'I preferred having only one friend,' and, 'I still interacted with other people, I just didn't consider them friends, because... _I'd rather not talk about it._'. What would you _rather not talk about_?" Pepper asked coldly, giving me a hard stare.

"I had two friends in junior high, one of whom is still my friend. The other one is the one who sent me the death threat." I answered simply, hoping that the conversation would end there, but it didn't.

"What happened between the two of you?" the captain asked, and I sighed, hanging my head in shame.

"We had an argument. I called her a snobby little rich girl, which she _is!_, after she 'forgot' to come over to hang out for the weekend like we'd planned for the _entire week!_ She said that she was hanging out with her _real_ friends, and that I could just 'go cry to mommy' like the 'little baby' I was. I exploded on her, and we actually came to blows over the whole deal. I punched her in the face in my little fit of rage, and I actually broke her nose _and_ knocked her out with the punch. But I didn't freak out and run like most people would, I actually _helped_ the little bitch! I used a pair of scissors from my purse to cut up my sweatshirt and bandage her up, with duck-tape to hold it all together. After that, she started spreading nasty rumors about me, since of course she held more influence in the student body than I did, being more popular than me. The only reason I still had _one_ friend is because she moved back to Louisiana for the year and missed the whole ordeal. Everyone else was turned against me, and I had to work my way back up in their opinions from, not the ground, but the bottom of a nearly bottomless pit of social ruin! Not that I cared, though, since I was happy enough alone anyway." I explained, and they stared at me, eyes wide and with obviously pitying expressions.

"How did you live, being hated so much by so many?" Thor asked, and I scoffed.

"I didn't live. I only _just_ survived high school, and even then, it was tough. I was always alone." I answered, and the pity only worsened.

"What did you do, then, if you weren't hanging out with people?" Bruce questioned, and I closed my eyes to avoid their pitying looks.

"Every day after school, I would go down to the weight room, or out to the track if the weather was good, and work myself near to death lifting weights or running. The work paid off, I forgot my troubles for a while and I got stronger." I said, keeping my eyes closed to block out the pity.

"After ninth grade, I escaped. My mom helped me by convincing the university that I could handle the course load, and I was accepted to college at age fifteen. The rest, at least some of you probably know."

Opening my eyes, I found Thor, Bruce, and the captain near tears and Pepper actually crying. The others were just giving me looks of extreme pity and sadness.

"I don't need a fucking pity party, okay?!" I snapped, standing up and storming off to my room, punching the wall in my fury. Surprisingly enough, I left a dent in the wall.

After examining the wall for a minute, I went and changed into workout clothes, heading for the gym.

* * *

(Steve P.O.V)

"Ryan?" I called, stepping out of the elevator and into the gym. I found her over on the bench press, with what appeared to be a full rack of weights on either end of the bar. Walking over to her, I tried to calculate how much weight she was lifting, but I wasn't all that good at math.

"How much is that?" I asked, watching as the bar went up and down with relative ease.

"Two hundred," she grunted, putting the bar up on the holder and sitting up, glaring at the bar over her shoulder. "But that's not the most I can lift, that's just all Stark has in here."

She stood up then, giving me an odd look, almost as if measuring me. "Come here."

* * *

(Normal P.O.V)

"Come here." I said, and the captain stepped closer to me obediently, but he looked pretty nervous. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want to try something." I elaborated, going right up to him. He tensed up, and I rolled my eyes, picking him up and putting him over my shoulder gently. The captain realized what I had done and grabbed me around the waist, clinging tightly to me.

"I'm not gonna drop you, I promise! I just wanted to see if I could do this, and I can, so I'm gonna put you down now. If you'll let go, that is," I reasoned, and he let go of me, allowing me to put him down.

"There. Now was that so scary? I didn't think so." I said, walking over to the treadmill. I put in my usual settings and started running. After a minute, I heard him walk over to me, watching as I ran.

"Why don't you go outside and run?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes, not replying.

* * *

"I don't go outside and run because there are people outside. I do this to escape from people. Loki was kinda right when he said that 'freedom is life's greatest lie'," I started, quoting the evil god in a fake British accent, "but not in the sense that people 'crave subjugation' or anything, it's just that we're never truly free. Society is, in my opinion, a prison. A prison of conformity and metaphorical sheep and metaphorical schooling fish, mindless herds and groups that are always the _exact same!_ I much prefer to be alone, because then I can at least get a bit of metaphorical parole before I get dragged back in to the metaphorical prison of society. I'm using a lot of metaphors." I explained. The captain, who I decided to start calling Steve as it was his actual name, clearly got lost halfway through, but I continued since the ideas just kept coming.

"So you don't like big cities?" Steve asked, and I shook my head.

"No, I don't like_ society_. I like big cities, I just don't like the massive amounts of people _in_ the big cities." I corrected.

"You have problems."


	7. Protection

**Protection**

* * *

_"You have problems."_

That sentence had been echoing in my head for the past couple days. I didn't know what to make of it, so I tried to ignore it, but it just kept bouncing around my mind, not leaving me alone.

It wasn't like I had never heard those words before, they just hadn't been spoken by someone who didn't hate me. That was what confused me.

"Miss Tillman, there is a group of girls in the lounge that say they want to see you." Jarvis informed me. I stood up and walked over to the door, taking a deep breath before leaving my room and facing the world for the first time in two days.

The first thing I noticed when I got closer to the lounge was that the group of girls was muttering amongst themselves almost as if plotting something. Instinctively, I pressed my back to the wall next to the doorway, peeking around the woodwork and into the lounge, instantly recognizing every single girl in the group. I withdrew my head and walked away, taking an alternate route to the kitchen on that floor. Once I was there, I pulled out my phone and sent out a group text to the Avengers, minus Thor since he was back in Asgard with his evil brother.

_Assemble. Stark's kitchen, lounge floor. Urgently!_

* * *

Twenty minutes later, everyone was in the kitchen with me, wondering why I had called them there.

"Remember the death threat ordeal a couple days ago? Well, they're really going through with it. They're in the lounge right now, conspiring." I said quietly, but still loud enough to be heard by everyone in the kitchen.

"How many are there?" Natasha asked, and I looked into the lounge, quickly counting the group and ducking my head back into the kitchen.

"Six." I replied, slightly worried.

"That's one for each of us, including you, Ryan. We can handle half a dozen teenage girls, right?" Stark said, and everyone nodded.

"I'm gonna go out there and talk to them. The signal for you to come out will be... three coughs." I said, squaring my shoulders and walking out into the lounge, sneaking around the group until I was right behind Ashley, who was obviously acting as leader.

"We should push her out the window!" Rachel suggested, and I rolled my eyes at her stupidity.

"You _seriously_ don't remember how Iron Man got thrown out one of these windows but his suit came flying down to save him? She could easily do the same thing he did!" Ashley snapped, and I smiled, waiting for an opportunity to speak up.

"But couldn't she kill us with the suit? It has weapons, you know!" Mackenzie worried, and Ashley smacked her upside the head.

"No, you idiot, she wouldn't have the guts to! Our main concern is the other Avengers. If they come to help her, we're gonna be outnumbered." Ashley said, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I thought that Thor guy went back to space with the guy who started the battle?" I said, mimicking Alexa's annoyingly nasal voice.

"Oh, you're right, Alexa, he did," Chris said, confusing her.

"Alexa didn't say anything." Abby said, and the six girls turned to look at me, glaring murderously. Ashley started walking toward me, and I stood my ground, crossing my arms and smirking.

"You're all alone, then. Good," Ashley said, giving an evil smile and pulling out a knife. The other five took out other items, one revealing a chair and another holding a rope. The remaining two just held knives.

"Tie her up, girls," Ashley commanded, and I allowed them to tie me to the chair, waiting until I actually needed help to call the others. The final touch was a cloth in my mouth, which I could still cough around, luckily.

"Now nobody will hear you scream." Ashley's evil smile only got more evil.

As she approached me with the knife, I coughed three times, loudly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bruce snapped, and I could see his skin taking on a slight green tinge in his rage.

"Uh, guys, I think that's the Hulk..." Mackenzie worried, attempting to flee when Bruce turned a glare on her. Natasha grabbed her before she could escape, though, and took out a rope of her own, holding it menacingly as she kept a firm grip on Mackenzie.

"Killing the bitch that shattered my nose," Ashley said in an offhanded tone, not even turning around to see five angry Avengers tying up her friends.

"That's all you have against her?" Clint asked from behind Ashley. She turned around to reply and I felt my restraints come loose. I pulled the cloth from my mouth and stood up, picking up the chair and holding it up beside Ashley's head as if to club her with it. She noticed the chair and turned around just as I swung, hitting her nose, which shattered.

"Dot agaid!" she wailed, holding her nose. When she held up the knife, murder in her eyes, I swung the chair again. The chair broke against her head, and she fell to the ground with a sickening _crack_ from her skull.

* * *

"So the ultimate weapon against a teenage girl with intent to kill is... a chair?" Fury asked, looking down at the unconscious Ashley in front of him. She was surrounded by bits of chair and some blood from her nose.

"Yep. Especially when her friends recently tied you to said chair." I replied, smirking at the group of tied-up girls.

"I'll add her to the bunch once she's conscious." Clint said casually, gesturing first to Ashley, then to the group.

"So, what do you suggest we do with them?" Fury asked me, as I knew the girls better than anyone in the room except themselves, but they weren't about to start suggesting punishments.

"Somehow, with your secret governmenty influence, cancel all their credit cards, give 'em _horrible_ credit, and revoke their drivers' licences?" I suggested, and Fury rolled his eyes.

"No."

"Ugh, fine! Slap an attempted homicide onto her," I pointed at Ashley there, "criminal record, and some accomplice shit onto theirs. That's law-enforcement enough for you, right?" I said, and Fury glared at me. "Okay, I don't know _what_ you should do, and quite frankly, I don't _care_ what you do- as long as they don't end up dead!"

"But they tried to kill you!" Clint protested, and I gave him a death-glare, effectively shutting him up.

"I know that, but that doesn't mean I want them dead."

* * *

"Is this good?" Fury asked me, showing me the cell that my attempted killers were in. They were currently arguing, as apparently they might be great friends, but they didn't make good cellmates for each other.

"Great. Keep 'em here for a couple more days, then dump them back in Illinois." I replied, laughing as Alexa poked Ashley in the nose, causing the latter to scream in rage and pain.

"I should inform you that Thor has returned with Loki. Apparently, as Loki tried to take over Earth, not Asgard, we get to choose what happens to him." Fury told me as we walked to the high-security detention center, where Loki sat in the newly-installed replacement cell, since he had dropped Thor in the first one.

"Good day," Loki greeted me politely, and I gave him an odd look.

"Hello."


	8. Love Lies

**Love Lies**

* * *

"Your turn to watch Loki," Natasha said, tapping me on the shoulder. I groaned, standing up and walking into the room containing his cell, watching as he sat up straighter, smiling brightly at me.

Over the past two weeks, he had been developing feeling for me, and I had no idea why. Honestly, I wasn't that pretty, with my poofy hair that was only _starting_ to calm down, almost-nonexistent sense of fashion, and a bad complexion.

"Hello." I greeted, sitting down and opening up my sketchbook. I had gotten back into art since I had more free time, and I had been improving rapidly. My main subject was Loki, since my watch was two hours long and he usually just stared at me during that time, sitting still enough for me to draw. I had also drawn Fury when he was focusing on something for long enough that I could draw him rather easily.

"Good afternoon, Lady Ryan."

* * *

Two hours later, I left the room, Loki staring longingly after me.

"Tillman, Stark has agreed to take Loki in to the Tower for the remainder of his punishment, and Loki will be transferred tomorrow. Thought you should know." Fury said, walking past me as I left for the Tower. I sighed angrily, resolving to hurry up my efforts to get Steve to ask me out.

"You know, you could just ask him yourself." Natasha said, walking with me to the jet we were taking back to the Tower.

"Yeah, but there's the chance he'll say no..." I countered, and she stopped, blocking my entry to the jet.

"When we get back, you are going to find Steve and ask him to go on a date with you tonight," she ordered, and I opened my mouth to protest, but she continued before I could speak. "No objections!"

* * *

"Jarvis, where's Steve?" I asked, nervous about what I was about to do.

"Right here," Steve replied from the couch, where he was drawing something. I walked over to him, looking over his shoulder and seeing a very realistic drawing of myself.

"I know this is rather out of the blue, but... will you go on a date with me, preferably tonight?" I asked, and Steve turned his head, giving me a look that I couldn't interpret.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Where?"

"N- Just meet me by the elevators at six-thirty." I said, and he nodded, turning back to his drawing. I went to my room, where Natasha was waiting for me with Pepper.

"Jarvis told me you're going out with Steve. I called in reservations at Olive Garden for seven o'clock, and we picked out a few outfits for you to choose from." Pepper said, gesturing to my desk, where clothing that was distinctly _not_ mine lay out. It looked like they would fit me, so that was good. While I looked at the outfits, Pepper and Natasha talked about what else to do to me.

"No makeup, if at all possible, please!" I called over to them, and I could hear twin noises of disappointment from where they sat. They continued talking, though, and I heard one of them say something about trying to find eight-inch heels for me to wear.

"Uh, I would be much happier on the ground, guys. But if I have to be taller, I have a great pair of shoes to go with this outfit." I said, holding up one of the outfits they had picked out.

"Oh, you mean these?" Natasha asked, holding up my big black boots.

"Yeah, those, why?" I countered, and she smiled pleasantly.

"I actually chose that outfit to go with these. Now come over here, we need to get to work."

* * *

At six twenty-nine, I hurried out of my room and to the elevators where Steve was waiting patiently.

"You look nice." Steve said, and I smiled sheepishly, feeling my face heat up.

"N- Thank you. You look good too." I replied, pushing the "down" button between the elevators. One opened up immediately, and we stepped in, riding down to the garage in silence.

"I'm driving." I said, walking over to one of the cars closer to the doors, ignoring the nervous look Steve threw me in favor of getting in the car. He got in soon after and I eased the car out of the garage and onto the road. I understood his nerves, having gotten my license a few weeks earlier, but I was still confident in my abilities.

* * *

"Good night." I said, going to open the door to my room.

"Wait," Steve said, and I turned back to him, confused. He leaned down and kissed me, pulling away quickly and looking a bit nervous about how I would react. Instead of getting upset, I pulled him back down for another kiss, that one lasting much longer than the first.

By the time we pulled apart to breathe, we were lying on my bed, and I vaguely remembered dragging Steve up the ladder to the high mattress, with me going up backwards so as not to break the kiss.

"Jarvis, close the door," I said, sitting up and taking off my shoes.

"What, why-" Steve started to protest, but I kissed him in order to shut him up.

"You're staying with me tonight." I said, starting to get undressed for bed. Steve decided to go along with it and started undressing himself.

"Good night," I said once we had settled in for the night.

"Good night."

* * *

The next morning, I woke up to Jarvis saying something over the PA system that I didn't catch.

"What, Jarvis?" I asked, but the AI wouldn't repeat himself.

"Loki's in the lounge, and Fury wants everyone out there now." Steve said, and I rolled my eyes before climbing down from the bed. I picked up a pair of jeans from the floor, pulling them on before pulling a random shirt over my head and going to leave the room, Steve following, doing up the buttons on his shirt.

"Ryan, I think you forgot something," someone said, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I didn't forget anything, Stark." I replied, and everyone started laughing. I was pushed closer to the person I had mistaken for Stark, finding out that it was actually Bruce and realizing what I had forgotten.

"I'll be right back!"

* * *

"How can it be that someone so powerful can be so blind?" Loki asked me from the other couch. I looked over at him, meeting his gaze warily. He looked nervous.

"I was born with a small cataract in my right eye, and my mother is literally almost half-blind, so I have bad vision," I replied, deciding to ask him a question of my own. "Why are you so nervous?"

"I am expecting visitors. Surely Thor mentioned..." he answered, but was interrupted by a loud thunderclap from the balcony. The other Avengers rushed in, just having arrived back from their alcohol run. I hadn't been allowed to go with since I was to young to buy alcohol and _someone_ needed to stay behind to watch Loki.

Thor went out to the balcony to greet the visitors from the sky, and I started getting suspicious.

"Father! Mother! It is good to see you!"


	9. Surprise, Surprise

**Surprise, Surprise**

(AN: Thank you to my lovely reviewers! I love you all!)

* * *

"Father! Mother! It is good to see you!" Thor crowed, rushing out onto the balcony to greet his parents. I glanced at Loki and found him cowering on the couch, trying to hide behind a pillow, and tossed a blanket onto him in sympathy. He smiled at me for a second before pulling his head under the blanket and remaining completely still.

"Come, you must meet my Midgardian friends!" Thor boomed, leading his parents inside the Tower. The other Avengers were introduced to the gods, and I was beginning to think I had been forgotten about when they turned to me.

"And this is Lady Ryan. She has a suit of armor much like friend Stark's. Lady Ryan, these are my parents-" Thor introduced, but I cut him off.

"Odin and Frigga. I know of the legends, Thor. It is very nice to meet you." I said, inclining my head to the two. Odin gave me a surprised, but respectful, nod of the head, but Frigga stepped closer to me with a look of questioning curiosity.

"I feel that an enchantment has been placed on you, Lady Ryan. A disguise. But it was applied shortly after your birth," she said, giving a soft gasp of shock and turning to Odin before continuing, "by Loki. Odin, I believe we have found the lost Goddess."

It didn't take me long to figure out what she was thinking, and I promptly blacked out.

* * *

"Ryan!" Stark snapped, and my eyes snapped open to find eight people looking down at me worriedly.

_Eight people, but only fifteen eyes, heheheh,_ I thought, noticing Odin's golden eye-patch for the first time.

"Yeah?" I asked, wary of the reply.

"May I have a word with you?" Frigga asked, and I nodded slowly, pushing myself off the floor and leading her to my room.

* * *

"Well, I always knew my father wasn't the best guy, but I didn't think he was _that_ bad... Abandoning me _under a spell_ for sixteen years! At least my mother is actually my mother," I said, and Frigga sighed sadly.

"Loki didn't want to abandon you, he told me that himself, but he knew you would be safer without him around." She explained, and I sighed, leaning against the wall and closing my eyes.

"Could you remove the disguise? I want to know what I really look like." I requested, a little nervous about having magic used on me, but if it was going to remove the magic that was _already_ on me, I didn't mind as much.

"Yes, just stand still a moment." Frigga answered, and I froze in place, holding back a sigh as I felt a new lightness in my body, as if a large weight had been removed from my shoulders. I opened my eyes to find my eye level standing higher than usual, and I went into the bathroom to look in the mirror.

The disguise had certainly worked to hide my true appearance. I had long black hair, and it was still wavy/curly, but not as unruly as before, and green eyes with a few flecks of gold mixed in. I was easily a foot taller, as well, with a larger chest and much paler skin.

"Why do my clothes still fit?" I asked as I walked back into my bedroom, looking down at myself and finding that nothing had ripped or gotten too tight during the transformation.

"When I removed the disguise, I used a bit of magic to allow your clothes to change sizes to fit your body as it changed." she explained, and I thought of a new question.

"Can _I_ use magic?" I asked, and when Frigga nodded, I sat down, taking off my shoes and concentrating on them. With a small flash of light, they were magically enhanced so that they wouldn't wear out no matter how much I wore them.

"Why did you choose your shoes to test your magic on?" Frigga asked, slightly amused.

"These are my only pair of everyday shoes, have been my only pair for about three years, and I've grown rather attached to them, oddly enough." I replied, and she laughed, standing and walking toward the door.

"While you were unconscious, I asked Odin to explain to the others about you, so they should know everything except your true form." she said, and I sighed in relief.

"Ah! Female Loki!" Stark cried, pointing at me in shock. Clint took out a knife and flung it at my head, but I threw myself to the floor to avoid getting hit. The impact was slightly more painful than it usually was when I threw myself to the floor to avoid getting hit by something, but it was probably because I was taller than I usually was.

"Clint, it's me, Ryan!" I snapped, picking myself up off the ground and brushing myself off habitually. All the Avengers were staring at me in shock, along with Loki, who was still hiding on the couch.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Fury yelled from the elevator, and I broke out laughing at his impeccable timing.

"Loki! You'd better explain this shit!" Fury snapped, walking over to me. I only laughed harder.

"Explain what, Director?" Loki asked, standing up from the couch and walking over to stand beside me. I looked over at him, matching up what I had seen in the mirror earlier to his appearance and dropping to the floor in hysterical laughter.

"Okay, which one of you is the real Loki, and where's Tillman?" Fury asked, giving Loki a death glare.

"Right- heheheh -here- heheheh -sir!" I choked out between laughs, lapsing back into hysterics once I had finished speaking.

"Why does Tillman look like a female Loki, and why is she rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically?" Fury asked, and Loki took over this round of explanations.

* * *

"So why is she rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically?" Fury asked after learning who, and what, I really was, looking pointedly down at me. I was still laughing like crazy.

"That, I do not know." Loki answered, also looking down at me. I tried to calm myself down, but I just couldn't, so I reached out for a notebook and pen on a nearby table. The items came flying toward me and I caught them easily, starting to write down an explanation of why I was laughing.

Once I had written down as much as I could, I handed the notebook up to Fury, who read it.

"It says, 'You have incredible timing, Fury, and that's what amused me in the first place. But then you thought I was Loki and that made it worse. Finally, I realized how much I actually look like him and... yeah'. Really, Tillman?" Fury read, questioning me at the end. I could only nod, clutching my abdomen in pain from how hard I was laughing.

* * *

Five hours later, I sat alone in bed, messing around on the computer and listening to music. From the corner of my eye I could see the door opening and Loki walking in, climbing up onto my bed and sitting down by my feet.

"Why couldn't you have made me five-nine instead of five-three?" I asked, not looking up from the computer screen. I could see Loki over the top of the screen, anyway.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and I sighed in exasperation.

"Well, today I grew exactly one foot in less than a minute. It wasn't painful, but it was pretty shocking, and I still have to get used to how tall I am and how long my arms are. I won't be making any large, sweeping gestures for a while, since I could hit someone with an arm and I'd feel horrible about it. Also, the _ground_ is blurry from nearly six feet up! Five-nine to six-three would be much easier than five-three to six-three, don't you think?" I explained, and Loki adopted a thoughtful expression.

"I apologize. Sadly, though, I did not expect your true form to reach a height any more than six inches taller than your mother was, so I couldn't make any modifications to the spell for that purpose." Loki said, and I sat up straighter, looking him in the eye.

"If I'm half-Jotun, how do I have such bad eyesight? Did your disguise fuck up my eyes?" I asked, and he sighed, shaking his head.

"No, it did not. Your imperfect vision comes from your mother, the only reason your eyes aren't as bad as hers is because you're half-Jotun." Loki explained, and I sighed in defeat.

"Does my mother know who, or more exactly _what,_ you are?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I asked her not to tell you for your own protection. The spell I placed on you also blocked your magic, and if I hadn't needed to do that as well as modify your appearance and height, the disguise would have been much more comfortable. Your back pain came from the spell having to compress your spine, and your joint pain from your legs having to be compressed as well. I am sorry to have caused you that pain, but it was necessary to bind your magic so that it didn't throw off the spell." Loki apologized, and I looked down at my knees, feeling for the bump that had been there since I was about eleven, but it was gone. Next, I lay down on the bed, waiting for the usual discomfort, but it didn't come.

"Finally!" I sighed, smiling as I sat back up and went back to my computer, another question coming to mind.

"Why do I sometimes have cravings for certain foods or drinks?" I asked, and Loki laughed.

"Now that, I can only attribute to your being half-_human_." he answered, and I smiled, glancing at the door and then at my phone.

"Miss Tillman, you have received a textual message from Brianna. Would you like me to read it for you?" Jarvis informed me, and I rolled my eyes at my phone.

"Yeah, sure." I said, staring up at the ceiling.

"It reads, 'Where exactly in New York do you live? I'm at the JFK airport, but I don't know where I'm supposed to go from here'. Would you like me to-" Jarvis said, but I cut him off.

"Reply, 'I'm coming to get you, look for a red convertible with me in it'." I said, turning to Loki. "Can you turn me back to what I usually look like to go pick up my friend from the airport?"

"Easily. Hold still for a moment," he replied, and I froze, wincing in pain as I felt my legs and spine get compressed. I looked in the screen of my phone, confirming that everything else was back to "normal".

"I have informed Mr. Stark that you will be borrowing a car to retrieve your friend, and Miss Potts is preparing a room for her as we speak." Jarvis informed me, and I smiled, getting down from my bed and leaving my room, heading for the elevator and hitting the "down" button.

* * *

"Hey Ryan!" Brianna said, getting in the car with me. I pulled away from the curb, heading back to the Tower.

"Remember how I was in that battle like a month ago?" I asked, and she nodded in excitement.

"With the Avengers, yeah." she said, and I smiled.

"Well, I'm living with them at Stark Tower." I said, and she got really excited at the prospect of meeting the other Avengers. "And there's something else, but I'll have someone else explain it when we get to the Tower, since I don't remember the story that well."

"Oh, okay."

* * *

"We have another guest!" Thor boomed happily, bounding over to us as we stepped out of the elevator. I smiled at Thor and pulled Brianna over to Frigga to have my story explained.

* * *

"I didn't even know any of that until, like, noon today, so please don't get angry." I pleaded with my friend, but she laughed.

"I'm not angry. Surprised, but not angry." she said, and I smiled widely, sighing with relief.

"Good."

* * *

AN: I'm not trying to make Ryan into a Mary-Sue, I just thought of this plot twist a while ago and really wanted to include it.

Keep reading, and maybe even leave a review if you feel like it!


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